Digital imaging for vehicular and other security applications

Abstract

Apparatus for inspecting a vehicle in order to determine whether portions of the vehicle have been altered to conceal contraband or explosives. The apparatus captures an image of an area of a vehicle that should not be altered from a known configuration and compares the image to a reference image of the area as it should appear if it is unaltered. If the captured image and the reference image match, the vehicle is considered unaltered, and hence safe to pass. If the captured image and the reference image do not match, the vehicle is identified as likely to have been altered, and hence a candidate for further inspection. An alert is produced if at least one such difference is found.

1 . An apparatus comprising: 
 means for capturing an image of an area of a vehicle that should remain unaltered after a reference image for said area is stored;    means for comparing an image captured by said means for capturing to said reference image of said vehicle and for making a determination as to whether there exists at least one difference between said reference image and said captured image; and    means for producing an alert when it is determined that at least one difference exists.    
   
   
       2 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein said area that should remain unaltered is one of a group consisting of an underside of said vehicle and an engine compartment of said vehicle.  
   
   
       3 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein said means for comparing said image comprises a processor performing an image matching process.  
   
   
       4 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein said reference image is stored in a database.  
   
   
       5 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein said reference image is specified by an identifier of said vehicle.  
   
   
       6 . The apparatus of  claim 5  wherein said identifier is at least one of the group consisting of: i) a license plate number, ii) a vehicle identification number (VIN), iii) year, make and model information, iv) a radio tag identifier number, and v) a bar code.  
   
   
       7 . The apparatus of  claim 5  wherein said apparatus further comprises a radio tag receiver to obtain said identifier from a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag associated with said vehicle.  
   
   
       8 . The apparatus of  claim 5  wherein said apparatus further comprises a bar code reader to obtain said identifier from a bar code on a surface of said vehicle.  
   
   
       9 . The apparatus of  claim 5  wherein said apparatus obtains said identifier from character data on said vehicle.  
   
   
       10 . The apparatus of  claim 5  further comprising means for capturing said identifier.  
   
   
       11 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein said image capture system is operable to function under lighting conditions not suitable for use by human beings to perform inspections.  
   
   
       12 . The apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising means for displaying said at least one difference to a human being.  
   
   
       13 . A method for inspecting an area of a vehicle, said method comprising the steps of: 
 capturing an image of said area of said vehicle that should remain unaltered after a reference image for said area is stored;    comparing said captured image to said reference image of said vehicle and making a determination as to whether there exists at least one difference between said reference image and said captured image; and    producing an alert when there exists at least one difference.    
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 13  wherein said area of said vehicle is selected from the group consisting of an underside of said vehicle and an engine compartment of said vehicle.  
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the step of comparing said captured image to a reference image further comprises the steps of: 
 obtaining an identifier of said vehicle; and    obtaining said reference image from a database as a function of said identifier.    
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 15  wherein said identifier is selected from the group consisting of: i) a license plate number, ii) a vehicle identification number (VIN), iii) year, make and model information, iv) radio frequency identification (RFID) tag data, and v) bar code data.  
   
   
       17 . A method of operating a system for inspecting an area of a vehicle, said system having a) an automated image capture system, b) at least one processor executing an image matching process, and c) said at least one processor having access to at least one database that stores a reference image, said method comprising the steps of: 
 capturing, with said automated image capture system, an image of said area of said vehicle that should remain unaltered after said reference image for said area is stored;    determining, by said processor, whether there exists any differences between said captured image and said reference image; and    producing an alert when the result of said determining step is that there exists at least one difference.    
   
   
       18 . An apparatus operable to a) capture an image of an area of a vehicle that should remain unaltered after a reference image for said area is stored, b) compare said captured image to said reference image, and c) produce an alert when at least one difference exists between said captured image of said area and said reference image.  
   
   
       19 . The apparatus of  claim 18  wherein said apparatus identifies in a human perceivable manner at least one area of difference when there exists at least one difference.  
   
   
       20 . An apparatus comprising: 
 a digital image capture for capturing a digital image of an area of a vehicle that should remain unaltered after a reference image for said area is stored;    an identification reader for obtaining an identifier of said vehicle; and    a processor for comparing said captured image of said area with a reference image obtained from a database of reference images of vehicles as a function of said identifier, and for generating an alert signal when at least one difference is found.    
   
   
       21 . The apparatus of  claim 20  wherein said processor is operable to execute an image matching process to compare said captured image to said reference image, and to make a determination as to whether there exists at least one difference between said reference image and said captured image.  
   
   
       22 . The apparatus of  claim 20  wherein said area of said vehicle is one of a group consisting of an underside of said vehicle and an engine compartment of said vehicle.